Where Music Comes to Play

Archive for fuze

ABI forum member glove4 received his Fuze+ today ordered from SanDisk.com. Amazon is note quite shipping yet but will likely be available shortly. Mine should be here soon, so expect a full on review to follow but in the mean time take a look at glove4’s first impressions here in the Fuze+ forums along with some photos.

It has been awhile since we heard anything from the SanDisk Sansa line of MP3 players and we have seen some leaks of the Fuze+ a few weeks ago but today SanDisk announces the Fuze+ with the full fanfare of a landing page on SanDisk.com.

Unlike the Clip+ the Fuze+ appears to be more than an incremental upgrade with an all new UI and industrial design. Coming in 5 different colors and 3 different capacities (4, 8, 16GB) it will also include the SanDisk standard microSD card for an additional 32GB of memory.

We will have the review up soon, but in the mean time SanDisk is already showing off the UI and some it its features in videos embedded below.

The new Sansa Clip+ is one of several players that come with support for microSDHC cards. While smaller than SDHC cards, the capacity is also lower at 16GB max – although 32GB is coming. This means that while SDHC players like the Cowon D2 can get up to 32GB of extra storage, the microSDHC players are limited to 16GB for now. Or are they?

A few weeks ago I ran across an SDHC to microSDHC adapter on DealExtreme. Unlike most adapters between the two card types, this one actually gives you a microSDHC card from a bigger SDHC card instead of the other way around. Since the SDHC standard is the same regardless of size and the adapter simply takes the pins from the SDHC card and transfers it through a ribbon cable to a dummy microSDHC card, you can use any full size SDHC card as long as the player you use it with supports the SDHC standard (microSDHC counts). This means you can get 32GB of extra storage on your Sansa Clip+, Sansa Fuze or any other microSDHC player.

Still not convinced it works? Our forum moderator no9 ordered one of these and now have it fully working with a 32GB SDHC card in his 4GB Clip+. 4GB shy of the 40GB maximum you get with a 8GB Clip+ and this thing, that’s still a LOT of storage on a small player like that. The downside? The adapter sticks out, and refreshing the media library with a full card takes close to 15 minutes. If you use this with a bigger player like the Sansa Fuze you should be able to fit the adapter on the back and tape over it or whatever, and the slow refresh is only after you put the card in for the first time or after you’ve connected it to manage your music. Regardless of the downsides, the capacity we’re reaching with players this small is quite astonishing and make for very attractive players for people with large music collections. Hit the jump for a couple more pics.

Forum member Ralph aka Phangtonpower has tapped into the great sound quality of the Sansa Fuze with a Ray Samuels Hornet headphone amp. Ralph also uses this setup to practice his bass paired with a set of Audio-Technica M50′s. Read on for some photos and comments by Ralph on his setup.

Congratulations to Kim. It looks like her search is over and she will be a proud new owner of a Silver Fuze and a high speed microSD card. Thank you all for joining the fun and making one killer comment thread. I actually read though them all and many were quite amusing. Stay tuned for more giveaways and more of the best mp3 player reviews on the net. Accept no substitutes!

Win a SanDisk Sansa Fuze + 4GB Mobile Ultra microSD Card
Sharing the same great sound quality as the Sansa Clip, the Sansa Fuze has one big advantage with an included microSD memory slot. This is a nice way to upgrade your to a higher capacity since the microSD card seamlessly integrates into the main memory.

MicroSD has become a standard in expandable memory for cell phones. Another nice use for the memory card would be to swap it between your player and you mobile phone. When I’m away from a computer one thing I do for instance is use my Nokia e71 to download podcasts and music, then swap the memory card to my Fuze. Sure I could use the phone to listen to but it needs a headphone adapter and sound terrible compared to the Fuze.

It’s also a cheap add on. Last I checked SanDisk’s microSD in 8GB was around $30 on Amzaon. Note that we are giving away the Mobile Ultra version which I tested to be about twice as fast as the regular version of SanDisk’s microSD. This works a bit better if you are going to use it in a phone.

Enough chit chat, how do I win this lovely pair?

Just comment once below (multiple entries will be disqualified) and we will pick a comment at random at the end of the day Wednesday. Good luck!

SanDisk’s latest player the Sansa Fuze fits nicely in the family between the Clip and the View. How does the Fuze stack up? After just a few hours with the Fuze I can easily say that this is the best Sansa to date. The Sansa View was rushed to market and it shows in the details, but on the other hand you can tell that the Fuze got a lot more TLC.

The biggest improvement I have noticed is the snappier interface as you can see from the video below. The screen is also improved over the View and previous Sansas; it is more crisp and doesn’t suffer from that odd “shimmer” that e200 and the View had. Many of you have been curious to know if the sound quality is on par with great sounding Clip. So far I have been hard pressed to tell the difference on my Sennheiser HD650s (the Fuze does drive them to a comfortable listening level). However, I have only spend a few hours with it, so don’t hold me to it till the full review.

We saw a few leaks and hints of the Sansa Fuze over the last week, but today SanDisk has officially announced this tiny flash player. The Fuze is a bit bigger than the Sansa Clip but packs in a 1.9” screen. As previously noted the player will feature 25 hour audio playback in the standard MP3, WMA, WAV, and Audible for Audio. It will also playback JPEG and 5 hours of MPEG-4 for video.

The player will hit store shelves early next month and come in 2GB, 4GB, and 8GB capacities selling for $80, $100, and $130 respectively. Additionally you can add more memory with the microSD memory slot.

Personally, I am pretty excited to see If the Fuze sounds anything like the Clip- if so it would be a pretty killer player. Now if they would only change that home screen and tweak some minor nuances of the UI.

Update:Gear Log has a video up showing off the Fuze. If you notice the Fuze has a slick looking glossy finish like the Clip and also carries the carries the same SOC. This does not necessarily mean it will carries the same sound quality as the Clip since its the sum of the parts that defines it, but it does give us hope.

A few days ago we showed you the first glimpse of the Sansa Fuze after a forum member had been snooping around the Internet. The Sansa Fuze has now been spotted available for pre-order on Amazon, while there still has been no official word from SanDisk

As we speculated, the Fuze will have both radio and video, and it will also have a microSDHC slot for expansion and a 1.9″ screen to view it all. Battery life is rated at 24 hours for audio and 5 hours for video. The Fuze is listed in both black, pink and red, and from the leaked accessory kit we know a blue version is also coming. The only model listed is the 4GB priced at $99, but we expect more capacities to be available once it’s official.

abi Editor's Choice

SanDisk Sansa Clip+

The Clip+ has a fantastic little form factor; somewhat cheap in build quality but very rugged. The interface is simple and relatively straightforward. The features on the Clip are more or less average, however it supports the alternative Rockbox firmware which provides tons of additional options (gapless playback, Replaygain, playlists, Last.fm scrobbling, etc). Read the full review or go ahead and buy it.

Cowon J3

The J3 is a fantastic PMP with a very nice AMOLED screen and tons of features. It sports Cowon's trademark BBE sound enhancements, and offers a customizable user interface with strong support by our user community. You can usually find it at Amazon for the best price - and don't forget to check out our review.

Microsoft Zune HD

Sure, many of us are not big fans of the walled garden, but there are a lot of great things going on with the Zune: sturdy hardware, ultra easy to use user interface, and a media player that is worthy of Editor’s Choice. You can check out our Zune HD review or stop by our Zune forums for the latest info and gossip.

Phonak Audéo PFE

Phonak Audéo PFE offer outstanding clarity and precision; natural, dynamic mids and treble, and decent bass for a single armature in-ear phone. They handle dense, complex music very well. The PFE work well with most acoustic and some electronic music genres, but bassheads might have to look at other alternatives. They're great for sports as well, since they fit very securely. Check out our review.

Hippo VB

The Hippo VB (Variable Bass) offers a serious subwoofer for on the go, right in your head. They don’t just deliver generous quantities of punchy, textured bass, but good audio quality over the whole frequency range with decent clarity and exceptional soundstage. Exchangeable bass ports let you customize their sound to your liking. Read our in-depth Hippo VB review.

Soundmagic E10 / E30

The Soundmagic E10 and E30 are basically right in the middle between the Phonak PFE and Hippo VB - not too analytical sounding, not too bass heavy. The E10 provide a bit more bass, the E30 a bit more clarity. Both come with a very fair price tag considering the sound quality they deliver - a great choice for the audio aficionado on a budget. Read our E10 and E30 reviews for more info.